1. Creating a Republic The Constitutional Convention Ch. 7 Sec. 2

2. Meeting to Form a Constitution
In May 1787, the Constitutional Convention met in Philadelphia to revise the Articles of Confederation – all states except Rhode Island sent delegates.
Representatives included Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, James Madison, and Alexander Hamilton.
The 55 delegates realized that they needed to write an entirely new constitution rather than revise the Articles of Confederation.
They debated for several months, disagreeing about what form the new government should take - numerous plans were discussed.

3. Two Rival Plans The Virginia Plan – Edmund Randolph and James Madison.
Called for a strong national government with three branches:
Legislative Branch – pass the laws
Executive Branch – carry out the laws
Judicial Branch – decide if laws had been carried out fairly (court system).
The legislature would consist of two houses with seats awarded on basis of population – larger states would have more representatives than smaller states.
New Jersey Plan – William Patterson
Also called for three branches of government, but only one house in the legislature with each state getting one vote.

4. The Connecticut Plan The Great Compromise – Roger Sherman
Kept the three branches of government.
Created a two-house legislature.
Lower house – House of Representatives - elected by the people and the number of representatives from each state was based on population.
Upper house – Senate – chosen by the state legislature and would have two senators no matter the size of the state.
On July 16, 1787 the delegates approved the compromise.

5. Debates Between the North and the South
The issue of slavery became a serious disagreement between the north and the south.
Southern states wanted slaves counted as part of the population so that they would have more representatives in the House of Representatives.
Northerners objected, claiming that since slaves could not vote they should not be counted as part of the population.
The Three-Fifths Compromise – only 3/5 of the slaves in any state would be counted as part of the population.
Northern states also argued for the ban of slavery – a compromise was reached and it was decided that slavery could not be banned for at least 20 years.

6. Signing the Constitution
The Constitution was signed on September 17, 1787.
All, but three of the delegates signed the Constitution.
Nine states were needed to endorse or ratify it before it would go into effect.